Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Lean On Me ❯ Midnight Attack ( Chapter 11 )

Disclaimer: NO, I don't own it…

Chapter Eleven

The hallway was dark and motionless as the girls stepped out into it, silently closing the door behind them. They stood listening, hoping to pin point where the noise was coming from.

"It's coming from down the hall," Riley said.

Vienna nodded. "Yeah. Come on, let's go check it out."

Riley walked ahead and Vienna trailed behind, keeping a look out for an ambush. They trained their flashlights ahead of them so as not to bump into something, but it did not reveal much. At the end of the hall, the sound echoed off the walls, causing a double affect. Riley frowned. "How are we suppose to know what way it's coming from?" she wanted to know, looking down both sides of the main hall they had walked into.

Vienna sighed. "I'm not sure, really." She thought for a moment. "Let's split up," she concluded. "You can take the left, and I'll take the right. We cover more ground that way."

Riley raised her eyebrow. "We become easier targets though."

"We'll have to take that chance."

Riley shrugged. "Okay, whatever. Catch ya later then."

"Later," Vienna replied. She waited for Riley to start down the left side of the hall before she headed down the right. Her sneakers did not make any noise, unlike the heels on Riley's boots, so this gave Vienna an advantage.

Many doors lined the main hall: some were offices, others were file rooms; she was not always sure. She passed an open door and looked inside. A brass plate was nailed to the side of the doorframe and it read: Surveillance Room.

Vienna stepped into the doorframe and looked around inside. The room was dimly lit, with only the pale blue light coming from the security camera screens that filled the room. She saw the back of a high chair, and the hat that some of the Preventers wore poking above the back of the seat. "Hello?" she called softly. "Hello, sir, are you awake?" When the soldier did not answer, she frowned and ran her hand over the walls, searching for the light switch that was hardly ever used. She found it and switched the light on. She squinted in the sudden light; quickly shutting the door behind her, she hoped that the bright light had not caught anyone's attention. She cleared her throat. "Sir, are you sleeping on the job?" she tried again. She walked to the seat and tapped on the top of the hat. "Sir?"

She gasped in shock as the man's head rolled to the side, causing the hat to fall away from his head and to the floor. Vienna spun the chair around with sudden urgency and her eyes widened in horror at the sight before her. Sitting upright in the seat was a soldier, but he was dead. His arms were covered in blood, his shirt was soaked, and a deep gash was in his throat, from which more blood was trickling. A haunted feeling overcame her, and she felt another presence in the room. And this new presence was not the dead man in front of her.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are," Riley chanted, turning down another corridor into the next. She had been wandering around for a few minutes now and nothing had come up. She sighed, tossing her long hair over her shoulder. She paused and rubbed her eyes. "Why did we have to have a prowler just when I was having a good nights sleep for once."

She moaned and let her arm drop to her side. She picked up her feet again, walking down the corridor at a normal rate. Her eyes watched out for anything out of the ordinary, but nothing had revealed itself as of yet. "I sure hope Vienna is having better luck than I am," she grumbled. "This sucks. If something was wrong, shouldn't I have seen something by now?"

Suddenly, out of a vent that was in the ceiling, three figures dressed all in black dropped into the corridor, a few feet in front of Riley. Riley gaped. "Okay, okay, I see it!" she cried out to the heavens. "I get the point already." She stepped back, pulling another dagger from her pouch. She held the daggers, ready to toss them at any minute.

The three straightened and looked at Riley; they all wore masks to hide their identities. Riley looked over the outfits and on the black shirt, patched over where the heart would be, was the picture of a coiled up snake, ready to strike. Something tugged at the back of her mind, as if she knew it, but could not place it.

She came back to reality when the three advanced on her. One leapt at her, but she jumped to the side, cutting the man across the arm. She brushed her hair aside, but this gave the enemies an open shot. One punched her in the stomach quickly and accurately, and Riley stumbled back. She looked up to see one charging at her and she swerved to the side, only to be met by another, who grabbed her arm, and threw her across the corridor. Riley hit the opposite wall and her body slumped to the floor in a heap.

Vienna reached back for her gun in the waistline of her pants, keeping her eyes peeled for any signs of someone hiding in the shadows. She felt the cold barrel of the gun and eased the weapon out of the pants. She held it hand now and cocked it. She took a slow, shaky breath. She turned 360-degrees, searching. She knew someone else was in there with her, but where could he hide in a brightly lit room?

Suddenly, Vienna heard enough to confirm it. The sound of something moving slightly caused her to look up at the ceiling to see a man staring at her from above, somehow able to keep himself up there without falling. He smiled crookedly at her before dropping down beside her. He reached out to grab her arm, but she was ready.

"Oh no you don't," Vienna muttered. She got down to the floor and swung her legs out at the man's ankles. The man fell backwards and Vienna was on him again. She grabbed him by the scruff of the collar and shoved him up against the door. "Who are you?" she demanded. "Who sent you?" For an answer, he spat in her face. Vienna let him go, dropping back to wipe away the saliva from her cheek. She was bowled over by a punch to the chin and a kick at her shins. She gritted her teeth, trying to ignore the pain she felt. "You're gonna pay for that, buster."

The man smirked. "Oh, I'm sure you will."

Vienna growled, but noticed a patch on the man's black shirt. It was of a snake, coiled up. She gasped, an image from a month ago playing before her.

*** Flash Back ***

Vienna noticed the note set on the table, the knife next to it. She walked over to it, sat down on the couch, and picked up both objects. She re-read the note, and studied the knife. It was a simple design, but the noticeable thing about it was the small carving of a coiled up snake resting in the bottom of the blade.

*** End of Flash Back ***

The World Rebellion Federation! That was the answer! The note, the knife, Raphael at Relena's school: all of it fell together. "That's it!" Vienna whispered.

"Argh!"

Vienna jumped in surprise as her attacked came charging at her, his eyes full of anger. She jumped away, but he still hit her in the arm, knocking her backwards.

Click!

Vienna steadied herself with the help of the wall and looked to the doorway. It had been opened and standing there was Heero Yuy, his gun trained on the man dressed all in black.

"Get even a step closer to her and I'll shoot," Heero threatened.

The man straightened and stared at Heero's gun, and then up to his face. "And if I don't, then what will you do with me?"

"I'll leave that up to Noin to decide. Now, hands on your head, and don't move."

The man sighed, but did as he was told. Heero kept his gun steady, but walked forward still, motioning for Vienna to get behind the man.

"Search him," Heero told her. "If he has any weapons, consider them yours."

Vienna smiled at that prospect. "I'll be happy to oblige."

She searched him, and came upon a wallet, gun, knife, and a bottle of powder. She held up the bottle between her thumb and forefinger, examining it. She glanced at the man. "And what were you planning on using this for?"

"I'm not saying anything," the man grumbled.

Vienna rolled her eyes. "Whatever. But first, lets see who you are."

She flipped open the wallet, and found an I.D. card. She slipped it out, and read aloud: "Name: Randolph Sanders, age twenty-five, sex: male." She put it back in the wallet and tossed the wallet to Heero.

Randolph sighed. "Are you two done yet?"

"Shut up," Heero said, tucking the wallet into his back pocket.

Randolph smirked. "And why should I when you are defenseless?" Suddenly, Randolph spun his leg out, jabbing Heero in the gut. Heero dropped the gun as he fell back from the sudden blow. He gasped out, but got his breath back quickly. He blocked another punch aimed for his face, and another to his knees. Vienna watched the two struggle and she pulled out her own gun, aiming at the two, trying to get a perfect shot at Randolph, but he and Heero moved quickly, making it all the more harder.

"Will you two quit moving?" she demanded.

Heero grunted. "Kind of hard, don't ya think?"

Vienna ignored him and focused again on her task at hand. She aimed and shot, just as Heero stepped in the way. Her eyes widened in shock. "Heero!" she yelled out. Quick as lightening, Heero pulled Randolph in the way, shielding himself from the bullet. Randolph was hit square in the back and he coughed up blood. Heero dropped the man and stepped back, trying not to get any more blood on himself.

"Oh my gosh," Vienna sighed with relief. "I thought you were a goner."

Heero frowned. "Hn. So did I."

Vienna smiled. "My bad."

"Obviously."

"Hey, I just saved your butt, man!"

Heero glared at her. "Yeah, and you almost shot me in the process."

"Well pardon me if I'm not perfect!" She crossed her arms and glared back at him. "You weren't supposed to get in the way of the bullet."

"You shouldn't have shot until you had a good view of him."

"I did, until you decided to move your butt into the way."

Heero shook his head. "There's no point in fighting with you."

Vienna raised her eyebrows. "Because I'm a girl?"

"No. I'm not the sexist. That's WuFei's department."

Vienna faked a gasp. "Did the perfect soldier just crack a joke?" She faked a faint to the floor. "I never thought I would see the day."

He rolled his eyes. "Get up, Vienna."

Vienna smiled and jumped up. "Come on then. Let's get out of here. Riley is wandering around here somewhere all alone, so we better go find her."

Heero walked out of the Surveillance Room ahead of Vienna, and said, "Riley should be fine. Duo is supposed to have followed her in case trouble came up."

Vienna rolled her eyes. "Oh, that's real encouraging, Heero. That's really encouraging."

Duo walked down another corridor, keeping a close eye out for Riley. He had an idea where she had been heading, but they were just hunches. "Where are you," he muttered as if Riley was there with him. He rounded a corner and halted abruptly. A way downs the corridor stood three figures, and a fourth was slumped against the wall. His eyes widened and he quickly backtracked around the corner again. He frowned and looked around the corner again to satisfy that he had not been seeing things.

"That must be Riley," he said. "It has to be. So how am I going to get her out of that situation?" He thought for a moment and figured there was no time to twaddle when the three stooges could kill her at any second. He took a deep breath and ran into the corridor.

~~**~~

Zieke, one of the three, squatted down next to Riley's limp form and lifted her chin with his finger. He studied her face before taking out a small photograph from his pocket and examined it. "It's one of them," he told the others. "She's Riley Barton all right." He dropped her chin and stood. "Come on, let's get her outta here and into the truck before she wakes up. The others will find Vienna Chang."

"Got ya, sir," one of the others replied.

"Oh, just get moving, Daniel," Zieke exclaimed.

"Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" a different and unfamiliar voice announced.

Zieke looked up to see Duo standing there, smirking like an idiot. He snorted. "We don't have time for this. Daniel, Caster, get that clown out of my sight. I'll get the girl to the truck."

"Afraid you'll lose against me?" Duo taunted. "Are you afraid to lose a fight in front of your fellow soldiers?"

Zieke ignored him and bent down to throw Riley over his shoulders when a bullet was shot, barely missing Zieke's hand. Zieke jumped back, glaring at Duo. "Who do you think you are?"

"I'm Duo Maxwell, the Great Shinigami and God of Death, and you are about to find out the meaning of my name." Duo aimed and shot another, but Zieke was quick, and rolled out of the way. "Blast," Duo muttered.

Riley groaned and groggily lifted her head. She squinted around her and raised her hand to her head. "What the-"

Duo glanced at her, but had to ignore her while he maneuvered out of the way of Zieke's pistol. He ducked, moved forward, jumped out of the way, and ran forward again. It was a repeating maneuver, but he was soon close enough to Zieke to get to him with his fists. He aimed a punch at Zieke's face; Zieke blocked it and retaliated with a kick in the side. Duo didn't see it coming.

Riley winced as she tried to get up to her feet. She glanced at the other two watching the fight and looked them over. Each of them had a gun and a whip, which to her seemed odd. Why carry a whip? She glanced at Zieke, who was blocking an on-coming attack from Duo. She waited for the remaining two to look away from her and she charged them. She knocked into one and the other fell sideways from the impact. She quickly grabbed the long black whip from one of their belt loops and backed away. She pulled a knife from her pocket and threw it at one of the two rushing at her. He staggered back into the man behind him and they fell to the floor. Riley felt a sharp pain in her head and she slowed down a bit, letting off her guard.

Zieke had seen her attack his comrades and he jumped back from Duo. He yanked his own whip from his belt loop and spun the cord out at Riley.

"Riley!" Duo cried.

Riley gasped, turning. The whip lashed out at her, wrapping itself tightly around her waist, and pulled her forward. She crashed to the floor at Zieke's feet. His whip was still tightly around her waist, and he gave it a good yank just to hear her scream.

Duo shot at Zieke's arm. "Your fight is with me, not her."

Zieke growled as fresh blood soaked through the black shirt he wore. "You have no idea how much trouble you caused yourself, kid."

Vienna grabbed Heero's arm in alarm as she heard the faint sound of a scream in the empty halls.

"What are you doing?" Heero asked, looking down at her.

Vienna noticed she was grabbing his arm tightly and she instantly dropped it in embarrassment. "Sorry, but someone-"

"Someone screamed," Heero finished.

"Yeah, and it sounded like Riley." The two took off at a fast pace, both pulling out their guns.

"Wouldn't someone hear the scream, Heero?" Vienna asked him.

"Nobody would this far away. The dorms and other places are across the building, far away from here. No one would hear it. The only person who could would be the guard in the surveillance room, but he's busy right now."

Vienna snorted. "No kidding."

The cord lashed around Riley's waist was causing an unbearable pain, and she was grinding her teeth in an effort not to yell out. Her eyes were jammed closed, but she pried them open so she could get a look at the situation. As she shifted, the bruises and other pains from the cave-in that had lasted all that time mixed with the fresh pain from the whip and Riley couldn't hold it in. She let out another shout and bit her lip to stop from shouting out again. Dang it! She thought. How much pain can a girl go through before she hits the limit?

"Let her go," Duo said, glancing at Riley on the floor. "She hasn't done anything to you."

Zieke glared at him. "The boss wants she and that other girl, and so I have to make certain she doesn't escape from me. Is that satisfactory enough for you?"

Duo shook his head. "That doesn't give you the right to hurt her." Who does this guy think he is? He asked himself. He can't do that to Riley. She's going through enough already to have to deal with a whiplash as well. But what can I do? If I try to attack Zieke by weapons, he will only jump out of the way and pull hard on the whip at the same time. And then if I attack head-on, the same thing would happen. Blast it. "He's got me cornered," he whispered. "Whatever I do, he will pull on the whip. Man, do I hate reality."

Heero pushed Vienna backward as she was about to run around the corner to come to Riley's aide. They had arrived a minute earlier, and had been watching and analyzing the situation. Heero had come up with the same conclusions as Duo had, only it would be easier for him to shoot that guy with the whip than it would be for Duo, since Heero wasn't expected to be there.

"If you shoot from here you have a chance of missing," Vienna said to him in a low whisper.

He looked at her sharply. The way she had answered, it had been as if she had read his mind. "Hn," he grunted. "We may have to take that chance. This hallway is a dead end. The only way out is back our way, or out that window at the end of the hall. If we went through the window, they would hear us for sure, and our cover would be blown."

"But what about Riley? She's in enough pain with just the whip around her. It'll be worse when that guy yanks on it."

"I may not miss," Heero replied.

"There's a greater chance you will," Vienna stated. "We can't risk it."

Heero glared at her. "Then what else do you propose we do?"

Vienna frowned. "Like I know?"

He rolled his eyes. "Girls."

"Boys." Vienna crossed her arms and stared down the hall again. She looked over the situation again and then noticed something she hadn't before. Behind Duo, Riley, and the third guy, there were two more men on the ground. One was obviously dead, but the other wasn't: he was trying to push his dead friend off him. She smiled, an idea forming. She ducked back behind the corner. She spun around and quickly grabbed Heero's gun from his jean waistline.

"Hey!" he whispered fiercely.

She ignored him, turned back around, and carefully aimed the gun to the moving man on the floor. She could only hope no one would see her.

"Vienna-"

"Shut up," she whispered back.

She cocked the gun and waited for the perfect moment. It came as her target sat up, the dead man beside him. She shot the gun and the bullet was a good one: it went right into the man's chest.

Zieke jumped at the sound of a gunshot and glanced over his shoulder. Vienna grinned. Things were going as she had hoped. "It's up to you, Duo," she muttered.

Duo knew it was his chance, so he took things into his own hands. He shot Zieke's hand that was holding the handle of the whip and rammed into his stomach. Zieke barely had time to react to the bullet in his hand before he had Duo on him.

"Yes!" Vienna shouted. The whip now lay on the ground beside Riley- that was what Vienna had hoped for.

"Let's go," Heero said.

"Okie dokie!"

She handed him his gun back and they sprinted down the hall to help out their friends. Heero went to Duo, and Vienna to Riley.

Riley grunted as Vienna dropped down next to her. "It's me, Riles," Vienna said. "I'll get ya outta this."

Riley smiled up at her. "Aren't you the little hero, huh? I know it was you who shot that guy back there to buy Duo the time. I saw you."

Vienna blushed. "It was nothing."

Riley shook her head, suddenly wishing she hadn't. "Naw. If you hadn't, I don't know what would have happened."

Vienna cleared her throat. "Come on, let's get you out of here."

With Vienna's help, Riley got the whip off, to reveal that it had cut the black spaghetti strap shirt to where it was a crop-top. A long, bloody whiplash went around her middle, showing where she had been hurt. Vienna winced. "Dang, that gotta hurt," she muttered.

Riley snorted. "You've no idea," she grumbled. "Let's just get outta here before that guy finds another whip and decides to lasso me again."

Vienna smiled and helped her friend to her feet. They both looked back at Duo and Heero to make certain they were okay.

Duo was ducking a blow as Heero came up behind Zieke and hit him in the base of the neck. Zieke stumbled before dropping. Heero pulled out his gun and pointed it at Zieke, but didn't shoot.

Duo stared at him. "Shoot, Heero!" he yelled.

"We need him for questioning," Heero replied. Suddenly, Zieke reached out with one hand and grabbed a gun from one of his dead partner's utility belt. Before Duo could grab the gun from Zieke's hand, the man shot himself in the head. His hand dropped lifelessly to his side, the gun dropping to the ground beside him. Heero curse silently, bending down. "He's dead."

"Thanks for stating the obvious," Riley said with a grunt.

Heero looked up with her in annoyance. "I'm glad you still have your sense of humour."

Duo shrugged. "Can't do anything about it now. Where are these guys from, anyways?"

"The World Rebellion Federation."

Duo looked at Riley. "How do you know?"

"They have the same plans as the WRF do. Didn't you hear that guy say that his boss wanted me and another girl? He was obviously referring to Vienna."

"Plus," Vienna added. "I figured something out." She bent down and pointed to the coiled up snake on Zieke's black shirt. "See this? Riley, remember when we were staying at Relena's school and we got a mystery visitor who left us a note on our door with a knife?"

Riley nodded slowly. She then felt dizzy and toppled sideways. Duo rushed to her and held her up. "Careful there, Riley," he said. He put her back on her feet and let her lean against him for support.

Vienna continued, "Well, while you were sleeping, I looked back over the note and knife. On the knife I found a carved figure of a coiled up snake; an exact duplicate of this coiled up snake on this persons shirt."

Riley squinted down at it. "I guess you're right. Why didn't you tell me about the knife?"

"I guess I forgot."

"We never knew of a note and knife," Heero spoke up.

Vienna looked at him. "The seven of us weren't exactly on the best terms then."

"Vienna, how can you trace the coiled up snake emblem to WRF?" Riley asked.

Vienna smiled. "We got the note after Raphael had arrived at the school also, remember? And then at the dinner party someone was shooting at you, and I was being taken outside with Raphael and his son Daryn against my will. Raphael has to be tied in with WRF somehow."

"And his son," Riley added.

Vienna nodded.

Duo frowned. "There's a problem though."

"What's the problem?" Vienna asked.

"If Raphael was the one who had planned the attack on you guys, then why would he be trying to keep you both alive now? When Riley was supposedly dead, things went a bit wrong. Without Riley, the plans wouldn't work well enough since they needed both of you to go with the plan. And now you say that at the dinner party Raphael was trying to kill Riley? What's up with that?"

Vienna blinked. "You're right. That was a bit confusing, but now I get what you're saying. Why would he want to kill Riley when he needs her and I to fulfill his plan?"

Heero shook his head. "That's what we have to figure out."

Authors Note - Was that last part a bit confusing for ya? I hope not, since you have to understand that to get one of the keys to the puzzle, if you catch my drift. Is this getting better? I hope it is. Well, the next chapter is on the way. Later guys!